Stories for Tomorrow – Lived Today, Everywhere

Thinking Outside of the Box

Thinking Outside of the Box

In the North of Paris, the Carton plein association collects, cleans and sells discarded boxes. People in precarious situations recycle, deliver by bike and help move – gaining professional and life skills in the process.

It all began with Francis,
a rag man who makes a living reusing and recycling things. He was
peeved by the heaps of empty boxes that are dumped on the streets of
Paris. “The yellow bins for paper and cardboard aren’t big enough
for all the stuff that people throw out,” he says. “The city
doesn’t have the resources to deal with the problem. There are some
companies that take care of the problem, and it works out because the
demand is there.” He and his friend Antoine Aumonier decided to
collect part of these boxes to compact them into smaller bales and
resell them.

They invested in a
compacter. Yet the project was off to a rocky start: The machine cost
several thousand euros, the boxes took up a lot of space, and the
compacted bales didn’t sell well. “They also thought it was a
pity to crush perfectly fine boxes”, says Hélène, a volunteer for
the association that Francis and Antoine founded following their
difficult launch. The project turned a corner: They now collected
boxes from private citizens, associations and companies in order to
clean and reuse them.

Reselling for
reintegration

So now, 33 rue du Nord in
Paris is home to the unusual store of the Carton plein (‘full box’)
association. You can buy boxes here –– individually, if you just
need to store some unused items, or in bulk for a major move. The
recycling program is also meant to be a social endeavor, for some
team members are in a process of social reintegration. And who are
the clients? “People from the neighborhood often come to the store
to buy a couple of boxes at a time, but most of our business is
online,” Hélène explains.

The guys who start working
here have traveled a rough road. Severe addiction, major health
issues, sometimes several years of homelessness. “These are people
in very precarious situations for whom the regular job reintegration
programs are too regimented,” Hélène says. “Here, they work
between three and six hours a week. It’s a step towards working
longer hours at a later point.” Carton plein uses a program funded
by the city of Paris that issues work contracts with very short
weekly hours, allowing people to get back on their feet gradually.

Discipline and
skills –
stress-free

About fifteen ‘valorizers’
are currently benefiting from this program. This number should double
soon, because a second site is scheduled to open in the south of
Paris. This was made possible by a crowdfunding effort. Other than
the hard cases, the program also serves people with lesser worries.
“They just need to perfect their French or have a first work
experience to boost their resume for future employers,” describes
Geoffrey, one of the association’s three full-time employees. “They
lack self-confidence.” These very diverse backgrounds also mean
that the success of the program varies greatly depending on the
individual. “Some go on to pursue vocational training, find a job
and manage to get a handle on their lives. Others disappear from one
day to the next.”

What do those who
stay take away from the experience? “They learn that work requires
discipline,” Hélène believes. “That they need to show up on
time and sober, follow instructions, work in a team.” Some of them
are on the delivery team, which fosters a whole set of skills.
Loading the delivery bike is not an easy task. Then you have to read
a map, find your bearings around the city, time your routes and work
with the customers. Geoffrey takes out an old laminated map of Paris,
adding: “You learn to read French, to figure out the dead ends and
the through streets, you end up discussing a historical term like
Faubourg – that is a teachable moment right there.” Biking with a
decent amount of cargo also means getting exercise. And all of that
without undue stress.

The boxes are collected and delivered by bike - Photo (CC): Carton plein

Green, social,
inexpensive

In the workshop next
to the store, two ‘valorizers’ are busy pulling boxes from a
stack that is piled up all the way to the ceiling. They peel off the
tape and labels and sort the boxes by size. A portion of the boxes
will be delivered by bike. Customers like the environmental aspect,
the social implications of the project, and the price of the boxes,
for they are only half of what a new box would cost. Three employees
manage the workshop: a director, Do Huynh, and two assistants –
Geoffrey is in charge of all things technical and François takes
care of the social side. Geoffrey manages deliveries and the
material, especially the bikes. He also trains the ‘valorizers’
to deliver the boxes. François mentors the employees in terms of
their social reintegration; he keeps tabs on their health, their
dealings with authorities, their search for housing …. And their
professional outlook beyond the boxes.

Half of the
operation is self-financed by the sale of the boxes. The rest comes
from subsidies and other forms of public funding. Several foundations
also support the project: Macif, Caritas, Société générale. The
current boom of socially assisted moves should also help the project
gain more financial independence. “Recently, we also started
offering moving help,” Hélène explains. “In general, for people
who move all by themselves, and need a few more hands than they
anticipated.” They charge by the hour, in contrast to commercial
movers who charge by volume. The service offered by Carton plein is
performed by people in social reintegration programs –another opportunity for them to learn
new skills.

The atmosphere in the
workshop and the store, where you can also stop for a coffee, is
friendly. The ‘valorizers’ like to stop by outside of their work
hours. “Our welcome is unconditional,” Geoffrey says with a
smile. “Those who finish their contract with us and still need a
little social support come to see us. Others come back to volunteer.
We keep them close.”